


The Last Ride: Maximum Level

by CosmicJ_Writing



Series: The Last Ride [1]
Category: Maximum Ride - James Patterson
Genre: Battle, Character Death, F/M, Max Dies, Multi, War, max and fang have kids, maximum ride strikes a deal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-28
Updated: 2016-07-28
Packaged: 2018-07-27 05:34:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7605640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CosmicJ_Writing/pseuds/CosmicJ_Writing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's only one left to ride the rollercoaster of life, death, and chance. However, it may just be his last ride. After a failure to protect his family, and the loss of family member, Fang retires to a finally normal life. He managed to save a new face, but the cost is the rest of the flock's lives. However his retirement is cut short during a trip to the grocery store, by The Voice no less.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Last Ride: Maximum Level

**Author's Note:**

> This is a rewrite of one my oldest stories ever written. I wrote and finished this story when I was 13. It's been a few years, three to be exact so decided to rewrite it tonight. My writing has improved since than, and since the story was such a success I figured it could only get better.  
> Heads up though, I have no beta so there may be mistakes. I've done to my best find and fix the mistakes I made, but I'm hardly close to perfect.  
> Hope you enjoy!

The smell of smoldering coals woke Fang from his slumber. He grimaced against the sun's glare. He pushed himself up, rubbing the sleep crust from the corner of his eyes. He got to his feet and stretched, his wings spreading out behind him before they settled back flat against his spine. Fang quickly did the usual morning headcount, and begin tiptoeing around the warm sleeping bodies of his family. He took a sharp glance at Angel, who only stirred and went right back sleep. He smiled, relief washing over him in the form of goosebumps down his arms. He puffed and shook his head. 

When he got far enough, he took running start and jumped in the air, weaving through the trees, slowly rising into the brisk sky. Fang sighed, the never failing relaxation spreading through him like wild fire. Wind ran her fingers through his hair, leaving cold kisses against his cheeks, turning them red. He angled his body and flapped his wings, propelling his body closer and closer to the clouds. In in instance, he contracted his wings. He laughed as he began to fall, his weight dragging him down.  
Fang closed his eyes, wind whistling a tuneless sound in his ears. With his arms held out and his body relaxed, he careened back towards earth.

Fang kept flying short after his family woke. He knew his day started when he saw Max waving an arm out from the tree tops. He extended his wings and positioned them in a way that allowed him to glide downwards. He passed and landed a few feet away from her, but not before he playfully shoved her. Her wings worked against her as she flailed, trying to find purchase on her branch before she toppled over. Fang smirked as she landed, not so gracefully on her feet. She glared at him. Max was chewing on the inside of her cheek now, anger running in her veins. Fang shrugged innocently and walked back to camp.

Iggy was cooking when Fang returned, three rabbits and a single squirrel. He carefully cooked the meat over the fire, shaking a small container of mixed pepper and salt over it. Fang couldn't help the grumble from his stomach. He was starving. Fang couldn't remember the last time he actually ate. Last time they ate, Fang gave most of his food to a fox with a broken leg. 

"What's the plan, Max." Nudge asked sleepily, her nose wrinkling ever so often. Fang knew she was only pretending, faking a dislike for the smell of cooking meat. However, her eyes would glance at the roasting rabbit, and a guilty look would pass over her face.

"I was thinking, that we haven't done anything fun in a while," Fang spoke, meeting Nudge's eyes, and then Max's. "I spotted a fair nearby. They're still up and running."

"We have to get back to New York," Max argued.

"Only for a few hours." Fang nodded to the kids around him, hoping to bring attention to their exhausted faces. Despite getting a goods night rest, they were tired of running. They all needed a break and Max knew that.

"Two hours, that's all." Max sighed and shook her head. The siblings and Nudge broke out into cheers, giving each other high fives and quick 'thank-yous' in Fang's direction. Beside Fang, Iggy bristled, his head turning and his blind eyes searching.

"Igs?" Fang said cautiously. "What's up?"

On cue, a heavy body landed in their circle, a pair feet squashing the food and killing the fire. Suddenly, they were up, crouched and glaring at the big hunky eraser before them. It grinned wolfishly, and chuckled. Fang's stomach dropped, and fury took it's place. Ari. And to think Fang was having such a wonderful morning.

"Sorry, Pipsqueaks, change of plans," Ari sneered. He threw a fist up, and eyed Max. Fang watched as she surveyed the situation. He knew exactly what was happening. She was watching the trees and observing Ari, trying decide whether to fight or flight. Fang shook his head. He knew her decision way before she said it aloud. They were fighting when they should have been flying. 

Max yelled a quick order as Ari brought his fist down. One by one, erasers moved from their camouflage and dropped from the canopy above them, their claws and sharpened fangs poised for strike. Fang rolled backwards, kicking his feet and landing a solid blow to an eraser chest. He stopped in a crouch, and propelled forwards. He jumped and grabbed and eraser by his ear. Now, he rode horse before, but this was far worse from riding a horse. He clung to the eraser's shoulders, struggling to keep his arms locked around the eraser's windpipe as the mutt jerked him around. He landed a final blow to the back of it's neck with the heel of his boot. 

"Angel!" Gazzy cried, and Fang turned just in time to see a syringe sinking into the six year old's collar. Angel went limp in the eraser's mitts, her electric blue eyes glazing over. Fang's eyes tinged red, his body moving involuntarily.  
He whipped around, flinging his wings out a crawling up a tree. He pounced branch to branch, dropping down on his specific target. He jerked his arms, and heard a satisfying snap from beneath his hands.

"Angel?" He called out for her quietly, pressing two of his finger to her neck. She was alive, thank God, but there was something pulsing in her veins and it could have been anything. From the outcomes, it seemed to be a super fast acting sedative. Fang pulled Angel's limp body near some bushes, praying to whatever deity was listening to keep her safe. 

"No! Max!" Fang ran into Nudge's direction, boxing the eraser's ears and taking off, not bothering to check if Nudge was okay. He was searching for Ari. He couldn't find him or Max. Fang swore, a pair of meaty hand wrapping around his neck. He gagged on the rancid smell that assaulted his nostrils. Fuck these monsters needed a dog bath. He clawed at the fingers that gripped his throat, tightening every few milliseconds. His eyes watered, and familiar a panic sent adrenaline to the rescue. He swung the toe of his boot into the eraser's arm pit, hopefully hitting the pressure point residing there. The eraser yowled and dropped him to his knees.  
He held his throat and choked, gasping for air.

"Damn mutts," He spit, dark eyes turned up. He glared daggers at his enemy. "Just fyi, I really fucking hate dealing with you." Fang rolled between the eraser's legs, and kicked the back of his knee. He pounded his fists into the monsters muzzle and didn't stop until he saw blood gushing. He finally landed a single blow to it's jugular, and another to finish the job.

In total, thirty erasers were down. Fang was working on his seventh, when he spotted a van rolling in. It automatically caught his attention and before he could catch his mistake, Nudge and Gazzy were yanked into the shadows of the trees, cold needles plunging down into the flesh of their shoulders. Fang stood frozen as he watched two mutts jump Iggy. They landed punches to one of his temple and to his stomach, a syringe guiding sedatives into Iggy's system. Fang watched as he slumped over. He shot forward, twisting a head around on its shoulders, and slapping his hands on another set of ears. He took in the satisfaction and the pride of seeing a few wary eraser back off. They watched him, eyed him, waiting for either the right chance to pounce on him, or waiting for him to pounce on them. And then they grinned, and the click of a gun next to his ear, told him all he needed to know. Ari tisked, a victory grin plastering his face. "Sorry we have to do this Pretty Boy," Ari sighed, moving to stand in front of Fang. "We're just following our plan. Isn't that right Max?" Max stepped from the shadows, her face wiped of all emotion. He wanted to reach out to her, to call out to her, and make sure she was okay. Except his stomach returned and it wasn't feeling all that great. Max wasn't even bruised, not counting the healing green stains in her skin. She wasn't sporting a bloody nose or a busted lip. Her hair looked the same as before, instead of a post-fight hairdo.

"Don't fight Fang," she whispered, her face still blank.

"Max is just taking up her side of our deal." Ari rolled his shoulders, his evil eyes locked on Fang. "Oh you didn't know? Death for the safety of everyone else?" Ari pressed the gun to Fang's temple, and Fang closed his eyes. 

A gunshot went right beside his head and his ears began ringing. Fang gasped, holding his ears as if that would stop the ringing. He searched wildly.

It was like a movie. Time slowed down. Fang's eyes landed on Max's falling body, and the blood that spotted over her heart. He couldn't hear his voice screaming, nor could he feel the sharp prick in his shoulder. All at once his limbs felt heavy and his throat felt loose. His screaming cut short as he fell sideways.

Fang wanted to reach out to her. Their fingers were only inches apart, but he was numb and she was dying. He fought to keep his eyes open, fought to keep his body awake just enough. He couldn't hear her, but after so many years of fighting and running away he had gotten good at reading her lips. She mouthed one last thing, before his eyes slid shut. "Don't fail."

"Boss, the younger ones have been loaded into the van." An eraser spoke. Ari glanced between Max and the dark one beside her. He licked his chops, the bones in his face snapping and healing over and over again as he morphed. 

"Shame we never keep promises, isn't it? Shame Max is dead for no reason. She was always my favorite chew toy." Ari kicked at her dead body. "Get the other mutants out of here."

"What about Subject 115?" 

"Well we need some entertainment. Lets watch him suffer." Ari popped his neck. "Besides, the Coats want to observe him and how he reacts. He's their new rising star, their new favorite lab rat."

Ari knelt, roughly grabbing the dark one's chin. "I'd offer my condolences, except I have none to offer." Ari eyed the boy's face, spotting a cooked leg of animal beside his head. He reached for it and in one motion, devoured the meat. He flicked the bone into the boy's face. "Sweet dreams, Rat."


End file.
